THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 20, 1995 TAG: 9511160021
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
An old joke describes someone as 90 percent literate - can read, but won't. By that yardstick, we're a 90-percent democratic nation - can vote, but don't.
In other industrialized democracies most eligible voters regularly go to the polls. In the United States as few as half of eligible voters bother to register. And often less than half of registered voters actually turn out.
There are two explanations given for this lack of interest. Each can be partially correct. One school of thought contends that a large segment of the electorate has simply given up on the system. They feel disenfranchised so refuse to exercise their franchise. If true, that's bad news.
But there's a slightly less gloomy explanation for low turnout. What if many potential voters are reasonably contented most of the time? Seeing no great threat to their future no matter which party wins, they don't vote. But when an election really counts, when it really poses a choice that voters regard as important, they turn out in big numbers.
That theory gets a slight boost from the results in the Nov. 7 election in Virginia. It was widely seen as a real choice between George Allen's conservative vision of a stripped-down state government and the Democrats' steady-as-she-goes prescription.
Because the choice was obvious and important, voter turnout was up in several Hampton Roads cities from the past off-year election in 1991. Voting in Norfolk increased 40 percent, in Portsmouth 21 percent and in Chesapeake 7 percent. Results were similar in Alexandria and Roanoke, each up around 40 percent over 1991.
Yet the overall Hampton Roads turnout was still just 45 percent of registered voters and less than 25 percent of eligible voters. That's pretty dismal. It's no vote of confidence for a central democratic institution.
It's true that off-year elections when no national or statewide offices are at stake are the worst attended. But the men and women elected on Nov. 7 will control state taxes, roads, schools and environmental protection. And if a Republican U.S. Congress succeeds in returning more and more responsibilities to the state, the power in Richmond over the lives of Virginians will only increase.
Schools need to teach the importance of making an informed choice on Election Day. Employers should encourage their workers to go to the polls. Motor-voter will make it easier than ever to register. Avenues should be explored to make the actual casting of ballots easier. The day is not far off when voting via Internet or interactive television will be technically feasible. Such possibilities must be explored.
But, ultimately, voters have to take control of their own political lives. How much they pay in taxes, the kind of schools their children attend, the safety of their streets and the prosperity of their city, state and nation are at stake. If most people don't care enough to vote, the few who do will determine the shape of things to come. by CNB